Chromat’s Founder on Rem Koolhaas, 3-D Printing, and the Future of Fashion

McCharen backstage before the show.Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Chromat

There is an endless debate about whether fashion is art, but Becca McCharen is offering an alternative categorization: Fashion is technology. The clothing designer, who attended the University of Virginia School of Architecture, prides herself on innovative uses of fabric. The tagline for Chromat, the New York City-based label she founded in 2010, is “Structural Experiments for the Human Body.” For her latest experiment—Chromat's Spring/Summer 2017 collection—the 2015 Vogue Fashion Fund Finalist teamed up with 3-D printing firm Formlabs to print custom-fitted clothes for each of the models—including one who is seven months pregnant.” Chromat’s garments, often sculptural and always designed to fit the body and its movements precisely (no matter the person’s size or shape), exemplify the bright future of fashion. As McCharen says, “Each collection is a manifesto of the limits and opportunities of the body.” Read on for more about McCharen’s unique approach to clothing design.

Architectural Digest: How does architecture influence your work as a whole?Becca McCharen: For me, architecture and fashion are very similar design processes. What is different is the scale—you can design and build a dress in hours, versus buildings, which take years to realize. I have been able to utilize my architecture training to be bilingual between the disciplines of technology and fashion. Each has its own language and goals, but at Chromat we are always looking for new ways to merge the two.

AD: Why were you drawn to 3-D printing?BM: We are interested in 3-D printing as one possibility for full customization of garments. We believe that in the future everyone will have a body scan of themselves and will be able to download clothing files online, to be printed at home in custom sizes and prints. The accessibility of well-made fashion and the inclusiveness of custom fit for all body sizes and types are our ultimate goals.

AD: Tell us about the mechanics of this season’s collection.BM: [After the SS17 Hyperware collection was complete,] we collaborated with dancer Mela Murder to create original choreography for the runway show. Mela is pregnant, and is interpreting this female power through the shape and movement of her body. Mela’s choreography was body-scanned by Bodylabs and the proper clothes emerged from the Formlabs 3-D printers. Formlabs has a specialized printing process, which utilizes laser technology to bond molecules of liquid into form.

AD: Are there any specific architects or structures that you always go back to for inspiration?BM: I love how Le Corbusier imagined buildings as machines for living. I also really love Rem Koolhaas and how each of his buildings comes with a manifesto. Koolhaas also holds a special place in my heart because I proposed to my wife, Christine, at the Seattle Public Library he designed, one of my favorite buildings in the world. I love that it’s a work of great architecture that is open to the public and not a private residence that only the wealthy can enjoy.

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